Lake Skadar, the largest fresh water reservoir in Europe, shared by Montenegro and Albania, is simmering with life this summer. It is a habitat to a colourful array of species, birds and fish, some of which are endemic to the region.

Numerous species of plants, several kinds of water lilies and reeds thrive in its warm waters, heated by the powerful Mediterranean sun. Lake Skadar is a cryptodepression, its bottom lies lower than the sea level.

Bubbling close to the lake or the "big water", as it is called by the locals, are rows and rows of Vranec and Krstač grapes, famous local varieties of red and green grapes, which are harvested in the early fall and used to brew well-known types of wines and, to a lesser degree, rakija, a grape brandy also known in the region as lozovača.

A Dionysian affair in Virpazar

Each year, wine and fish are "joined" in a  festivity called Days of Wine and Bleak. So far, 12 of these events have been held, always in the fall or during winter, when fish and wine abound.

The festivities are held in the picturesque town of Virpazar, once Montenegro's biggest market place, on the very banks of the lake. Festival goers feast and drink in reverence of nature and human labour.

Poets take turns reading poems venerating wine and the best "wine poems" receive awards. Wine-makers also compete for grades. In addition to them, the festival hosts fig, pomegranate and mandarin growers.

The whole event is a Dionysian affair with much wine-drinking and good and healthy cuisine, specific to the region of the lake and the surrounding mountains, the region of Crmnica, where a special kind of onion grows, unknown to the rest of Europe. Crmnica Vranac wine, fish, onions, honey, all local specialties, are pungent with the aroma of the river and nearby sea, mountains and gentle cascading hills and valleys, graced with over 400 springs.

Bleak is endemic to Lake Skadar. The Lake Skadar bleak is a small species of fish that lives no where else in the world. In the 13th century, the fish was exported to Italy. Today, approximately 800 tons of bleak are extracted from the
lake each year. At the start of the 20th century, fishermen in the village of Ceklin alone would produce about 500 tons of dried bleak. Today, the lake's bleak population has been depleted by fishing, although a bleak canning factory is still operative in Rijeka Črnojevića, the winter residence of Montenegro's formal royal rulers.

Marcus Aurelius' recipe for longevity

Wine-making in the lake area dates back to ancient times. The Romans, no strangers to life's pleasures, also took note of the special quality of Crmnica wine.

Historical records have it that Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius believed that wine from around Lake Skadar could prevent aging. After the Romans, wine-making was taken up by the Slavs, who added something of their own to the lake's wine culture.

Wine-making in the region became especially important during the time of Montenegrin King Nikola Petrovic (1840-1921). Entrepreneurial as he was both in times of peace and war, he passed a "law" obliging young men to plant a small vineyard before marrying.

The wine tradition in this part of Montenegro has been passed on to modern generations. North of the lake, in Cemovsko Polje, lies one of Europe's biggest vineyards, spanning across two thousand hectares of land. The vineyard is still owned by the state, although many companies from around the world have been eyeing it.

Numerous private vineyards are located in the Crmnica region, over 150 of them. Some of the vineyards date back several centuries. Wine is kept in oak barrels, and the locals claim that the best wine comes from a barrel that, filled with wine, has spent several years buried underground.